Comments on: Fun with Enka Music

By: Doug

Doug — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:15:43 +0000

Yeah, I guess I never considered the vocal range, since I don’t listen to enough Enka music, but it’s good to see people doing “stunts” and other things to keep it interesting. Maybe Enka is a kind of country meets jazz meets Japanese culture mix of music.

Anyhow, welcome to the JLR!

By: Danielle

Danielle — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:39:12 +0000

Hey Doug,
Enka music is phenomenal. It maybe mainstream there as country is here, however, it reminds me more of jazz. Why? Because you have to have a stellar voice to pull either off successfully. Country singers are great but old school jazz requires so much technique and ability. This is what Enka reminds me of. Jazz is my favorite because of the level of difficulty and grew up singing to Ella Fitzgerald and Doris Day, etc. Now Enka is definitely behind it. The singers are so versatile and are able to do acrobatic vocal stunts. I love it!

By: Doug

Doug — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:19:04 +0000

Hi Kendall,

Thanks for the comment. I removed the other one, like you requested. Sorry for not doing that sooner. :-/

By: Kendall

Kendall — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:50:23 +0000

Not sure why, but the music (1st clip) makes me think of some of the James Bond movie intros. It's something in the rhythm I think. I doubt the message/story in the music is the same though, but I could be wrong. Sheryl Crow did intro for Tomorrow Never Dies. Anyone else hear the similarity? If not, it's fine, I may be nuts. Side note Doug, I left a message back a this posting requesting removing of a link I provided. Thanks.

By: Doug

Doug — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:52:03 +0000

Johnl Yeah, I think Wikipedia said it’s within the last century, and you’re right, it does sound like “Asian” country music. I have to admit I like classic country music that my grandpa, a country man from South Dakota, would listen to, so maybe I am biased.

Speaking of shamisen, I have a post on that coming up.

Wamae Great clip! Yeah, I see why you like Hikawa Kiyoshi. For some reason, Tom Jones comes to mind, but I mean that in a good way.

Wendy Welcome to the JLR! Yeah, I kinda noticed that J-pop gets by with image a lot over talent. Then again, there’s some J-pop I like too, mostly from my wife’s influence. I don’t know if I’d ever buy an Enka album, but I would enjoy one if I had it. Good, move your beat, music.

By: Wendy Nelson Tokunaga

Wendy Nelson Tokunaga — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:34:20 +0000

Thanks for spreading the word about enka. I’ve been singing it and enjoying it for years. Some Japanese seem almost programmed to say they don’t like it, but I think more enjoy it than will admit. And Jero is certainly helping to popularize it with a new audience. And, yes, most enka singers have stellar voices such as Hikawa Kiyoshi and Ishikawa Sayuri. Even though I also love J-pop, sometimes being kawaii is more important than having a good voice.

By: Wamae

Wamae — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:51:02 +0000

I must confess to a fondness for Hikawa Kiyoshi. While I was studying Japanese last summer, the media cafe I would have lunch in would somehow always be tuned to a performance of his on Japanese TV. My friends and I spent a lot of time trying to figure out just what the heck a "zundoko" is...

By: johnl

johnl — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:08:52 +0000

Enka seems to be fairly new, maybe less than a century. It may have been influenced by some kind of Korean music.

To me, it seems like the equivalent of (US) ‘country’ music–a lot of the songs are about great suffering and sadness.

I was once invited to participate in a ‘karaoke kyoshitsu’ with the famous Yashiro Aki. I didn’t know any karaoke songs, so somebody in my company taught me ‘Kage wo shitaite’ which is one of the earliest enkas. That was 25 years ago, and that is still just about the only Japanese karaoke song I can do (1). Everyone is amazed that I know it, because it is so old.

(1) but give me a shamisen and I can set the place on fire!

Regards,
JL (haven’t figured out how to do superscripts yet!)